Page 415 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
explains how the use of Animal Pack Transport is a capability that the British Army should not ignore.93
Pack Transport – Regenerating an Old Capability.
The environment of the next conflict is unknown, unexpected and likely to catch us by surprise. Add in to this the requirement to conduct disaster relief, peace- keeping and so forth, and we could easily be caught out by an unexpected deployment to a remote jungle, scrub or mountainous region of the world. Histor- ically, the unexpected happens; very rarely do we get the war, conflict or aid operation that we thought was coming. For example, if the recent earthquake in Nepal turned into a longer reconstruction operation (like Op MATURIN94 in Pakistan) then Pack Transport95 could well have been used for reaching remote mountain communities over damaged mountain roads and tracks in a high-altitude environment, where helicopter lift capacity is greatly reduced. Interestingly, during the initial disaster response operation, civilian rescue groups found moving equipment to be a major problem. Yet Pack Transport would have helped greatly, had it been available.96
Could we currently train one hundred Gurkhas from 10 Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment to operate a Pack Unit using animals and equipment sourced locally or from the neighbouring Indian Army Service Corps?
When did we last use Pack transport? More recently than you might think! Although the last permanent Pack Transport units in the British Army disbanded in 1976, Pack was used in the Falklands, post conflict, to support patrols, and in Bosnia supporting peace- keeping patrols. In addition, limited use was made of it in Afghanistan. During the Second World War, Pack was used on a large scale in jungle Operations in Burma and mountain operations in Italy, moving supplies forwards and evacuating the wounded on the way.97
Is it still relevant and who else uses it? Germany, Austria, India, and Pakistan still have formed Pack Transport units specifically for use in mountain environ- ments. Exercise BALKAN GRENADIER, conducted by Warfare Branch (DLW) at Warminster, recently looked at the value of Pack in the mountains. They closely examined the German Mountain Division using a great deal of pack to outflank the Allies by going straight over Mount Olympus during the invasion of Greece in the
Second World War. Indeed, The Russian Army had, and perhaps still has, a Pack Horse Platoon operating in the North Caucasus as part of a Russian Mountain Brigade as recently as 2007 – 2011.98
Pack for the purposes of this article refers to the use of Pack Horses or Pack Mules, however other animals have and could possibly still be used, from the elephant, to camels, donkeys, goats, and even large dogs.
Why don’t we use Pack? Primarily because the British Army has chosen not to use Pack Transport as it hasn’t had a requirement to do so for some time. However, Pack Transport was used in Afghanistan by 2nd Parachute Regiment on Op HERRICK 13.
Pack is a difficult capability to operate. It requires skill, experience and training of both man and beast in order to perform to its full capacity. If a trial is conducted and a few unfit animals are used with novice handlers to cover a 20-mile resupply loop in mountains, then false lessons are likely to be learnt in terms of potential capability. Undertake a trial with fit animals and experienced handlers, and you would get a very different picture of a real capability that can contribute greatly to Operations in such environments. Of course, like any capability, the trial must be fair and balanced.
UK Capability in the British Army has a residual corporate knowledge and very little kit since the last Pack Transport unit was disbanded in 1976.99 This leaves a capability gap, in terms of trained manpower and equipment, should it be required in the future; it is not likely that this capability could be outsourced either. Yet Mountain Warfare doctrine100 states that the Royal Logistics Corps (RLC) maintains a pool of trained officers. Only one is still serving who did the course as a Reservist in 1999. Unlike many other capabilities there is no immediate contractor source standing by to provide either capability or training as Pack is not used to any extent in this country as a civilian mode of transport. There may be a few Highland estates using a pony to bring culled deer off the hills, and a couple of re-enactors with an interest in displaying the kit on an animal at shows, but no real pool of people who use it routinely to do a real job delivering supplies in quantity.
What can Pack Transport do?101 The capability has several advantages over traditional wheeled transport and helicopter lift. Pack characteristics and capabilities are well illustrated in the excellent SSVC Video – Pack
93 Pack Transport-Regenerating An Old Capability Major David J Puckey RLC taken from the British Army Review No 166 dated Spring 2016.
94 Op MATURIN saw members of 59 Independent Commando RE assist in rescue and emergency shelter rebuilding operations after the Kashmir earth-
quake at the invitation of the Pakistani Government.
95 Pack for the purposes of this article refers to the use of Pack Horses or Pack Mules, however other animals have and could possibly still be used, from the
elephant, to camels, donkeys, goats, and even large dogs
96 Watkins, Jerry, SARAID volunteer who deployed to Nepal, and has previously completed the Pack course when in the RAVC.
97 British Army Journal, article ‘With Pack Mules in the Appenines’ by Maj CT Berridge OBE RASC. 5 Cook, Major James, RA, A New Means of Tactical
Mobility for Afghanistan, BAR 151, Spring 2011
98 Cook, Major James, RA, A New Means of Tactical Mobility for Afghanistan, BAR 151, Spring 2011.
99 414 Pack Transport Unit RCT in Hong Kong in 1976, followed shortly after by H Squadron RCT in Aldershot. Up until this time all officers of the RCT un-
dertook equitation and pack training as part of their Troop Commanders Course. The last of these officers would by now be retired, or very close to it.
100 7 AFM Vol 2, Part 1, Mountain Operations, Part A, Chap 6.
101 See AC 70441 RLC Animal Transport 2004; and DAC Training for Military Pack Transport Handlers, DAC/PACK/ CSE/24/003, April 17th 1997
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